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YOUR WASHINGTON
AND YOU!
REPORT from
KARL MUNDT
SENATOR FROM SOUTH DAKOTA
United States Senate
"FOR A FAIR CHANCE FOR A FREE PEOPLE"
FOR RELEASE THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 1962
(This is a special Washington News Report issued
every other week solely for use by newspapers, radio
and television stations and other publication media. )
FOREIGN AID IN TROUBLE--WHY ? Many long-time supporters of foreign aid recently have expressed severe doubts over efforts to achieve solution to
world problems through "economic assistance". One by one, it seems, proponents
of these programs slip away, from ardent advocacy to a disturbed acquiescence--
and in some instances, to a position of militant opposition.
At times, economic assistance has achieved outstanding success, usually
when it has been tied to military assistance, as in the case of aid to Greece and
Turkey when threatened by a Communist take-over. In other respects, it has been
difficult, if not impossible, to accurately gauge whether foreign aid has been helpful. But when it came to a question of taking a chance on spending an extra several million dollars in hopes it would prevent spending American lives on some
war-torn battlefield, Congress was willing to put forward the money.
But for many Members of Congress, including this Senator, support of foreign aid has become increasingly difficult. Why? Because the program has been
badly bungled? Because some incompetent people have wormed their way into the
program? Because it has been wasteful ? Because it hasn't seemingly shown results? Because it has given assistance to Communist countries?
While these questions contain in part some of the reasons for opposition to
foreign aid, it seems to me the real justification for the continuing development of
hostile reaction against this aspect of foreign policy is the feeling by former advocates that they have been led down a primrose path of glittering promises and
phony results evidenced by a lack of frankness and a failure to give full reports to
Congressional committees dealing with foreign aid funds. Put bluntly, "WE'VE
BEEN HAD!", I believe, is the expression best describing the feeling of this Senator and, I'm certain, others as well.
# # #
A CASE IN POINT: A good many Senators with whom I have talked are
greatly disturbed over information recently revealed by the House Foreign Affairs
Committee concerning the UN bond issue. The Presidential request for $100 million to purchase bonds to help the UN out of fiscal difficulties was debated and
passed by the Senate. Many objected--and I was one--to the bill on various grounds,
including the point it delegated authority of Congress to the President.
However, before the House had an opportunity to consider whether this proposal would usurp authority of Congress, the Administration went ahead and did
almost exactly that. It dipped into contingency foreign aid funds and turned over
to the United Nations some $215 million, more than twice the amount requested
for the bond issue! The USA, astounded House committee members learned, had
voluntarily given the UN this money by which the UN was then able to REDUCE
DEBTS OWED TO THE WORLD ORGANIZATION BY 78 COUNTRIES!
Through this "generous" act of Administration officials using American
tax dollars, debts were reduced for five Communist countries in the amounts of
$140,000 for Cuba, $243,200 for Yugoslavia, $512,000 for Poland, $25,600 for
Albania, and $128,000 for Bulgaria. Another $812,000 reduced "neutralist" India's UN debt.
This action was a deliberate affront not only to Congress but to the American people who foot the bill. It enabled these Communist countries - and India -
to pay their UN commitments sufficiently to RETAIN THEIR VOTING RIGHTS.
As you all know on virtually all important votes these countries vote AGAINST the
USA! Which explains why foreign aid not only is in trouble but why it isn't working either. The Secretary of State recently said our objective against Communism
is "to win". Unfortunately, with the type of policy outlined here, the Secretary's
chief weapon with which "to win" appears to be a gun with a curved barrel.

The work from which this copy was made did not include a formal copyright notice. This work may be protected by U.S. copyright law (Title 17, United States Code), which governs reproduction, distribution, public display, and other uses of protected works. Some uses may be legal with permission from the copyright holder, if the copyright on the work has expired, or if the use is fair use or compliance with the law. All use of DLSD material and content, whether utilized under fair use or used with written permission to publish, must name the Karl E. Mundt Historical & Educational Foundation, Karl E. Mundt Library, Dakota State University, as the original source for the material.

The work from which this copy was made did not include a formal copyright notice. This work may be protected by U.S. copyright law (Title 17, United States Code), which governs reproduction, distribution, public display, and other uses of protected works. Some uses may be legal with permission from the copyright holder, if the copyright on the work has expired, or if the use is fair use or compliance with the law. All use of DLSD material and content, whether utilized under fair use or used with written permission to publish, must name the Karl E. Mundt Historical & Educational Foundation, Karl E. Mundt Library, Dakota State University, as the original source for the material.

Date Digitized

2009-07-06

Transcript

YOUR WASHINGTON
AND YOU!
REPORT from
KARL MUNDT
SENATOR FROM SOUTH DAKOTA
United States Senate
"FOR A FAIR CHANCE FOR A FREE PEOPLE"
FOR RELEASE THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 1962
(This is a special Washington News Report issued
every other week solely for use by newspapers, radio
and television stations and other publication media. )
FOREIGN AID IN TROUBLE--WHY ? Many long-time supporters of foreign aid recently have expressed severe doubts over efforts to achieve solution to
world problems through "economic assistance". One by one, it seems, proponents
of these programs slip away, from ardent advocacy to a disturbed acquiescence--
and in some instances, to a position of militant opposition.
At times, economic assistance has achieved outstanding success, usually
when it has been tied to military assistance, as in the case of aid to Greece and
Turkey when threatened by a Communist take-over. In other respects, it has been
difficult, if not impossible, to accurately gauge whether foreign aid has been helpful. But when it came to a question of taking a chance on spending an extra several million dollars in hopes it would prevent spending American lives on some
war-torn battlefield, Congress was willing to put forward the money.
But for many Members of Congress, including this Senator, support of foreign aid has become increasingly difficult. Why? Because the program has been
badly bungled? Because some incompetent people have wormed their way into the
program? Because it has been wasteful ? Because it hasn't seemingly shown results? Because it has given assistance to Communist countries?
While these questions contain in part some of the reasons for opposition to
foreign aid, it seems to me the real justification for the continuing development of
hostile reaction against this aspect of foreign policy is the feeling by former advocates that they have been led down a primrose path of glittering promises and
phony results evidenced by a lack of frankness and a failure to give full reports to
Congressional committees dealing with foreign aid funds. Put bluntly, "WE'VE
BEEN HAD!", I believe, is the expression best describing the feeling of this Senator and, I'm certain, others as well.
# # #
A CASE IN POINT: A good many Senators with whom I have talked are
greatly disturbed over information recently revealed by the House Foreign Affairs
Committee concerning the UN bond issue. The Presidential request for $100 million to purchase bonds to help the UN out of fiscal difficulties was debated and
passed by the Senate. Many objected--and I was one--to the bill on various grounds,
including the point it delegated authority of Congress to the President.
However, before the House had an opportunity to consider whether this proposal would usurp authority of Congress, the Administration went ahead and did
almost exactly that. It dipped into contingency foreign aid funds and turned over
to the United Nations some $215 million, more than twice the amount requested
for the bond issue! The USA, astounded House committee members learned, had
voluntarily given the UN this money by which the UN was then able to REDUCE
DEBTS OWED TO THE WORLD ORGANIZATION BY 78 COUNTRIES!
Through this "generous" act of Administration officials using American
tax dollars, debts were reduced for five Communist countries in the amounts of
$140,000 for Cuba, $243,200 for Yugoslavia, $512,000 for Poland, $25,600 for
Albania, and $128,000 for Bulgaria. Another $812,000 reduced "neutralist" India's UN debt.
This action was a deliberate affront not only to Congress but to the American people who foot the bill. It enabled these Communist countries - and India -
to pay their UN commitments sufficiently to RETAIN THEIR VOTING RIGHTS.
As you all know on virtually all important votes these countries vote AGAINST the
USA! Which explains why foreign aid not only is in trouble but why it isn't working either. The Secretary of State recently said our objective against Communism
is "to win". Unfortunately, with the type of policy outlined here, the Secretary's
chief weapon with which "to win" appears to be a gun with a curved barrel.